Love the dark, Love the light
by tflover2.0
Summary: Soundwave hated the dark, but was so alike to it. He loved the light, but was to dangerous for it. He knew where he belonged. He always knew. But he couldn't stop his dreams. For one who loves fear loves what he can't have. Always. (Tf prime, season 2/3.)


**Hey, since I'm not updating my main story until June or July, I decided to write a couple one shots. I randomly got this idea,****and thought, hey, this would be an interesting idea to explore. You can decide whether to take this seriously or not. Hope it satisfies those who are waiting for a while. Enjoy!**

**World: TFPrime**

**Pairings: One-sided MegatronXSoundwave, one-sided SoundwaveXOptimus**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Prime, or any franchise related. This is only for entertaining purposes. If this thing even does that though…**

Soundwave loved the dark. He relished in it. It was so close to him as well. It was silent, like him. Mysterious, like him. Terrifying, like him. Full of boundless potential, like him. He enjoyed the dark, just as much as he loved fear. He didn't feel it himself, no, but he caused it in others. Being a telepath, he could feel the adrenaline rush that came with being scared, ready to bolt at a single twitch. He understood more than anyone else that he had a problem. He was obsessed with the feeling. He did not deny it. If anything, he encouraged it. A Decepticon who did not have a reputation was either a dead con or a useless one. Soundwave was not useless, nor dead. His obssession kept others in line, and that was good enough for him.

The drones were quick to fright, an easy picking. If he was feeling lazy, he would merely go sneak up on one of them. It was so easy. But Soundwave loved a good challenge. Knockout and, once, Breakdown were good for a laugh as well. Not as easy, but much more fun. Others such as Dreadwing or Airachnid were really hard, but once or twice he would startle them, and that was an accomplishment in itself. But he tried more earnestly to earn their respect than fear. It would not do to have all of one's fellow officers (in Dreadwing's case at least) to be scared of him.

Then there came Starscream. Oh, how Soundwave wanted to burst out with laughter at merely the name! He was so easy to frighten, but so hard to get a reaction out of. Sometimes he would startle and give a quick jump, but most times he gave no reaction. Oh, how Soundwave loved the game they played. He tried to scare him, and Starscream held on to his dignity by not startling. But Soundwave felt his fear, and he always knew when he won the round. That was quite often.

Megatron. The name itself gave Soundwave a rush of pride and glory. Megatron was the only one to never be scared of Soundwave. He never felt fear, he never startled, and he never showed surprise. It frustrated Soundwave, but it was also the reason of his loyalty. Megatron was the one being who was never scared, and to Soundwave, who has never truly felt anything but fear from others towards him, that was truly something to respect. At least, so he thought.

When the Autobots gained the Starsaber, he was concerned. Megatron showed something he had never seen before. _Megatron's expression: not fear. Expression: only alike fear, most probably despair, or aghast, _Soundwave thought.

"Decepticons," Megatron called out, "we now face our darkest hour." Soundwave subtly nodded, and turned back to his tasks of finding the Autobot base, monitoring energon production, looking out for incoming cybertronian signals, watching the vitals of multiple drones, monitoring the ships trajectory, the list went on. Soundwave wondered what would happen to the Decepticons should he be terminated or captured. Life would go on, yes, but how? Soundwave directed his attention back to his tasks, and continued on as always, the silent, deadly, drone-like officer he always was taken for.

He let his mind wander, wondering what could have been had things turned out differently. He normally would have told himself off, but hey, no one was really paying attention, trying to fix the ship and all. He continued his calculations as he thought about the Autobots currently on Earth with them. As always, some of them he scorned, and others he respected. His reputation and fear of him ran wild amongst them, especially the younger ones, such as the scouts, Bumblebee and Smokescreen. Arcee had a wary disposition on him, but wasn't afraid of him much, which he had to respect. Bulkhead, well, he didn't care about really. Ratchet was very, very wary of him, which was fun, and Wheeljack was just great to have a good dance with. **(A/N: Dude, that battle between Soundwave and Wheeljack was amazing! It was more a dance than a battle! Sorry, please continue)** He hadn't been beaten by a foe for a long time, and being that close to defeat really hit home. Then he wandered to their leader, Optimus Prime.

Optimus Prime was a word Soundwave revered. Just like Megatron, Optimus was unafraid of almost anything. Powerful, deadly, kind and beautiful all in one. Soundwave had no disillusions about how devoted the Autobots could be to their leader, being that he knew he would be the exact same, if not more devoted. But for Soundwave, it was also a word that was off-limits, an unattainable dream. He knew what he was. He was Soundwave, a Decepticon, and an enemy to the Autobots. He had done too much wrong. Optimus, nor any other bot, would forgive him, or love him. He knew it, and accepted it. But it didn't mean he didn't dream.

The end of his shift neared, and as much as there was much work to do, he knew he had to rest, or risk collapsing. He turned off his computer, and walked off towards his quarters. The drones cowered before him, although minutely, and Soundwave relished in it before he exited the main bridge. He strode down the halls with purpose, being the silent warrior he was. He noticed a presence on the edge of his field of vision, and tilted his head subtly toward the figure. It was Megatron, and from the look on his faceplates, he knew exactly what he wanted. Soundwave unconsciously clenched his servos, but released them. He pretended he wasn't there, and continued toward his quarters, knowing Megatron would follow. When he arrived, he left the door open, and stopped in the middle of the room. Megatron came in, and shut the door. Soundwave felt a little surprised when Megatron slammed him against the wall.

"Soundwave," Megatron breathed, "my wicked desire." Soundwave shivered slightly at the words, but steeled himself. Megatron liked a fight, and as always, Soundwave would give one. Megatron always had a deep almost obsession with him, and as much as Soundwave was honoured, he didn't care for him like that. Sure, he would die for him. Sure he would give anything to make sure the Decepticons won. But he didn't love him, or like what was about to follow. But he obeyed, and let Megatron drag him over to the berth. And as he was laid down, he thought about a certain Autobot, and wondered what he would think of this.

**Time skip (season three, "deadlock")**

He knew things were going bad. The Decepticons were weak; they had barely any forces left to fight. A few dozen drones and a few officers were left. Dreadwing was gone, Predaking was gone, Knockout was being a fool, Starscream was still lulling about, trying to find out where he should be, and he himself was ordered to stay on the bridge. Megatron didn't want his precious TIC and berthmate to be harmed. Soundwave scowled, but continued to maintain the ships course. But then something happened. He heard metal crunching, and drones behind him began to give blaster fire. He had just dealt with the wreckers; who was bothering them now, he thought to himself.

He turned as he heard the last drone go down, and saw the two eldest human children the Autobots were so fond of. He watched as the girl ran towards him, obviously thinking she could take him on. He smirked under his mask, and lifted a hand to open a bridge to the Antarctic. The femme stopped, and began to back up. He heard the human boy, Jack he thought, talk to someone over his telecommunications device. But he ignored it and focused on what he thought was the real threat. But then he heard something behind, and turned to see another groundbridge open. The force of the two began to feed off each other, and he crouched to try and keep himself from being flung into them. He saw a big light flash right before him, and then the groundbridges collapsed. He stood up, and saw the children right before him; he launched himself at them, eager to teach them a lesson against messing with groundbridges. But he phased through them. _Query: what? _He thought, and then turned around to look at them.

"Enjoy the shadowzone dude!" The femme called out, and they raced to the controls. He watched them, and knew it was out of his control now. He vented slightly, and looked at the security feeds. The battle was still going strong below them, and he decided he needed to witness it rather than loll about here, where he could do nothing. He raced down the halls, determined to see the final outcome of this battle. But once he got there, he couldn't believe what he saw. The Autobot scout, Bumblebee, had leapt across the pool of synthetic energon, with the Starsaber in hand, trying to get to Optimus. But Megatron lifted his cannon, and fired three shots at him before Optimus could stop him. He was too late. The scout was hit, all three times in the chest, right toward his spark. The other Autobots cried out in shock, but Soundwave knew it was too late for the poor scout. He was dead before he hit the liquid below him.

For a few nanoclicks, nobody moved, and Soundwave looked at the two factions leaders. Soundwave saw the deadliest look of anger and hatred in Optimus' optics, and he let out a cry of rage before he began to pummel Megatron. Soundwave honestly could not decide who to root for. Both were adamant on the others destruction, but while one was calm in his anger, the other was a torrent of emotion. Then Megatron got his weapon, and managed to launch Optimus back before he could strike the final blow. While everyone was fighting viciously, Soundwave looked toward the pool. He saw something move, and his optics widened to see that it was the scout. The scout lifted himself out of the water, grabbed the Starsaber, and began to go for Megatron who was about to kill Optimus. _Bumblebee: please save Optimus Prime, _he thought, finally making his decision.

"Megatron!" Bumblebee yelled, shocking Soundwave further. The scout's voice box was fixed? Megatron was more shocked, and turned to receive a sword through his spark. Now no one could move, and all stared in shock, terror, joy, and relief, as the great and mighty Megatron was finally killed. He groaned, and tried to grab the bot, but only managing to reach the middle of the sword. His optics went dark, and he slowly slipped off the sword, into the atmosphere below, falling into the deep dark ocean. He heard Starscream cry out for him, and only chuckled at the irony at the fact that finally, after Megatron was dead, he was fully loyal to him. He watched as Shockwave grabbed him and dragged him off, while the rest just watched in numb shock at what happened.

The next couple of joors were a bit of a blur to Soundwave as he watched the drones, and Knockout, be collected and put into the brig, then as the Autobots headed straight for Cybertron. _Statement: we are home, _he thought with pleasure, happy to see his home once more. As they launched the synthetic energon into the well, Soundwave could only gasp and give a true, unseen smile as their home lit up from within, finally after eons alive and healing. He stayed on the ship as the Autobots went to Earth to say their few goodbyes. He also had a few things to do.

He managed to tap into the groundbridge controls, and got himself out of the dreadful shadowzone. He relished in the fact he could touch things again, and then focused himself back onto his task. It took too long to figure out how to get himself out, and the Autobots would be back on the ship soon. He unlocked all the safe codes in the main database of the ship, and released all information in the archives for them to see. If the Autobots were to rule, who was he to hinder them? He was an avid Decepticon, and he knew he shouldn't help them, but he couldn't help but feel differently. The war was done, and the one thing he fought for was dead. Now, he decided, it was time to go into exile. He could find a colony of neutrals, try to see if they would trust him and forgive him.

His sensors alerted him to a groundbridge opening, and he cursed inwardly. He had a lot more still to do. He would have to waste energon on hiding his signal now. He worked faster, adamant to finish before he was discovered, which he was certain would happen. It just was a matter of when, and what time. They most likely would not let him live, being how dangerous he was. But he would help them, no matter what. It was the one thing that he could do to make up for his crimes.

The other Autobots went about their business, unaware of the bot lurking around. As they worked to plot a course for Cybertron, Optimus decided to work on the archives in the Nemesis. He went to the computer dock, and searched through it. He narrowed his optics as he saw that pieces of information, folders, and the entire database were being unlocked for them. He, subtly, searched for the origination of this, and found it from a computer dock farther in the ship. Confused, he told his bots to continue on without him, and walked towards the site. He realized the source was where the officers' quarters once were, and went quietly, in case it was a Decepticon.

Soundwave finally finished decoding the information, and nodded to himself. He felt a buzz run through him, and he looked fondly down at his symbiont, Laserbeak. He sent a message to his young one. _Query: Laserbeak would like to see other symbionts again? _Laserbeak trilled in delight, and Soundwave agreed. It would be good to see his other symbionts again, to hear Ravage's sharp comments to Rumble and Frenzy's antics, and to see Buzzsaw and Ratbat as well. They were stationed on a planet rich with energon elsewhere, and they had been separated for a long time. Too long. Then he heard it. A small vent, almost unhearable. Soundwave spun around only to get punched in the face as Optimus advanced. Soundwave quickly blocked all communication in the sector so no other bots would come. That would be a nightmare.

"Soundwave," Optimus said, "stand down." Soundwave held up a servo, and put the other on his mask. It was broken, almost beyond repair, and he couldn't see or speak from it. He unlatched it, and then hesitated, nervous to show his faceplate to the Prime. He steeled himself, and took it off. Optimus' look of shock told him that he was equally surprised by the action.

"Optimus: broke mask. Soundwave: unable to speak, or see. Hope: you will be patient. Faceplate: hasn't been shown like this for eons. Soundwave: is no threat to Autobots. Wishes: to leave in peace." Optimus looked at him with suspicious but kind optics.

"What are you doing here Soundwave? I was told you were put into the shadowzone." Soundwave nodded.

"Soundwave: escaped. Children: very resourceful, but foolish. Soundwave: used technique Autobots used to aid children's escape." Optimus nodded, "But why are you here?" Soundwave looked down, and decided to answer.

"Soundwave: realizes Autobots won. Soundwave: has no right to hinder them. Hope: to repay for some of crimes committed before going into exile. Unlocked: Nemesis' database. Understands: hostility and suspicion. Knows: Soundwave is not welcome, nor ever will be. Soundwave: wants to be Autobot, but knows it is false hope. Hopes: Autobots heal Cybertron, rule fairly." Optimus looked at him with faint surprise, then concern.

"It would be possible. They would accept you, with time." Soundwave chuckled, and shook his head.

"Acceptance: impossible. However: hope is appreciated. Optimus: always was hopeful, especially when an archivist. Sadly: Soundwave's time is done. Abuse: finally over. Soundwave: free to do as wish. Free: to wander, to care, to love as wanted. Never again: forced to be obedient, to be Megatron's berthmate. Never again: forced to kill those I wish I had joined. Soundwave: is free because of Autobots. Soundwave: is grateful. Autobots: is not the place for a Decepticon, however. Darkness: shall always consume. Dangerous: to those cared for. Soundwave: will not endanger Autobots, or Optimus. Statement: Soundwave no longer exists. Now: I am no one." Soundwave declared, sadness clouding his face. No longer was he Soundwave. He was no one. He was a coward. He loved darkness. He loved fear. But he was still no one. Optimus stared, shocked at the things he said.

"Soundwave: will always be haunted by memories. Statement: will not let them take over. Hope: Optimus has good future. Hope: that we will meet again as friends. Declaration: long live the Primes!" And with that he opened a groundbridge to an abandoned Decepticon base. He raced through, even when Optimus called out for him to stop. He closed it, as much as it pained him to do so. But being with the Autobots was a dream, a forbidden dream. Darkness cannot live within light, as much as the darkness craved it. He could not live with the Autobots. He had done too much wrong, and he had too many faults. He would end up hurting them. It was for the better. Even if as he told himself this his spark hurt, he had to go. As he leapt up, he transformed into his original alt mode. It felt good to be back. As he raced off, he could see a groundbridge open, and the other Autobots run through, only to watch as he flew away. Away from the light, and into the dark.

Soundwave loved the dark. He relished in it. It was so close to him as well. It was silent, like him. Mysterious, like him. Terrifying, like him. Full of boundless potential, like him. He enjoyed the dark, but, as he thought about it, he no longer liked fear. He would not cause it, nor would he feel it. He had a future, one of which he would aid the light in the dark.

**And so, that's that! Hope you like it! I thought it was a bit darker than I thought it would be like, to be honest. But that's what I aimed for! Have a nice day, wherever you are in this world! Tflover2.0, out!**


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